[centre][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/181008/b02a8e514a847d83c3d8892fffdb6f35.png[/img][/centre][hr]
Michael thought he'd get overwhelmed by the sight of the trenches after the respite break where the Viscount's son basically went back home to a quiet yet warm welcome by his neighborhood. But it turned out well actually. Mother was correct. Of course he missed the hot bath at home or the maids/butlers giving him pretty much every good meal he deserved, but the recently returned Michael found himself instead immersed in something other than the constant groaning of wet feet or rats crawling around munching at the woods of the parapet. 

For a few days, this rugged-looking mixture of a binocular and a periscope had been Michael's project. After meddling with the binocular found on a dead Imperial officer in a raid a week ago, Michael had managed to crack open the thing with his sapper tools and place a tube, or rather two tubes, perpendicular to the binocular, each with mirrors placed at each end perching 45 degrees. It might look like just a poor attempt at replicating something that already existed, but a unique trait of this periscope that Michael was trying to get it to work right is the ability to zoom. That's what had been keeping him occupied for the entire day, as he sat tugged in beside the parapet with the tools either in hands or on the ground next to him. It was way past his shift time. He could feel his stomach poking him to go and have some food in the reserve line, but he suppressed it as he held his breath at yet another plier grip.

[color=bf00ff][b]"Right..."[/b][/color]

This should hopefully work. 

He flipped over, being careful not to straighten himself while he was on the parapet out of instinct. Otherwise he might risk getting shot by a sniper's bullet. It doesn't matter how brief it was he might show himself, he had seen people being all cheery one moment and a corpse a second later. But being short does have its advantage that he had more rooms for mistakes. After adjusting himself, he rested the periscope on the dirt, letting the lens peer over No Man's Land. He could see the mounds of dirt and barbed wires, along with puddles of mud water reflecting on the sticky situation both sides found themselves in. But the moment he was waiting for was when he slid those lens beneath forward and backward...

[color=bf00ff][b]"Yes!"[/b][/color] 

He gripped his fist in pride. It worked...somewhat. The zooming wasn't very good, not the best amongst the periscopes, and far worse than what a binoculars can afford to magnify, but it worked regardless. He could adjust how much he wanted to see with (relative) ease, and without having to expose himself to sniper fires. Now Michael felt the urge to have this be tested. He probably won't need to wait for long, as this is an observation area, so naturally there should be one or two observers at any given time. They should arrive soon. For now, he'd keep trying to make sure this sloppy patch-up of a tool didn't fall apart when roughly handled.